Fall Season Gets Underway With Author Talks

September 07, 2014|By CAROLE GOLDBERG, Special To The Courant

Susan Schoenberger, author of "The Virtues of Oxygen," will speak Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., at a free Tolland Public Library Foundation's Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series event at Tolland Town Hall, 21 Tolland Green.

The novel is about Vivian and Holly, a widow and iron lung-dependent polio survivor who become close friends during the Great Recession. The book is the second by Schoenberger, a West Hartford resident and journalist whose debut novel, "A Watershed Year," was a prize-winner. She is director of communications at Hartford Seminary and teaches writing classes at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford. Registration is required: 860-871-3620.

"Sex, Suffrage and Scandal"

Author Myra MacPherson will give a free talk on her book, "The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage and Scandal in the Gilded Age" (Twelve, $28), a Book/Mark event presented by The Mark Twain House & Museum and Harriet Beecher Stowe Center on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Mark Twain House Museum Center, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford.

The book is about the 19th century crusaders for women's and civil rights and champions of radical thought and free love, Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee "Tennie" Claflin, who ran for president and Congress, respectively, and achieved fame and fortune. MacPherson is an award-winning, best-selling author and journalist. Reservations: 860-280-3130 or http://www.marktwainhouse.org.

Abortion in the American Imagination

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and The Mark Twain House & Museum will present a free Book/Mark talk by Karen Weingarten, author of "Abortion in the American Imagination: Before Life and Choice 1880-1940" (Rutgers University Press paperback,$25.95) on Thursday, Sept, 11 at 7 p.m., at the Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford.

The book explores views expressed in literature on the controversial subject of abortion, which were much different from today's debates, and how eugenics, economics, race and gender roles played a role. Weingarten is an assistant professor of English at Queens College, City University of New York.

An expert on the history of quilts will give a free talk on on Sunday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. at Gunn Memorial Library and Museum, 5 Wykeham Road, Washington, on quilt-making through the 1910s and the World War I era, accompanied by an exhibit, " Over There: Washington and The Great War," which will be open from noon to 4 p.m.

Quilt historian and author Sue Reich will talk about "The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month: WWI Quilts." Reich has headed the Connecticut Quilt Search Project for the past decade and has written or co-authored many books on quilting in America. Her latest book is "World War I Quilts" (Schiffer, $39.99) will be published in December. Information: 860-868-7756 or http://www.gunnlibrary.org .

Authors At R.J. Julia

Several authors will speak at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. The talks are free and begin at 7 p.m., except as noted. Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or http://www.rjjulia.com.

On Monday, Sept. 8, Matthew Thomas will discuss "We Are Not Ourselves" (Simon & Schuster, $28), his saga of an Irish-American family in New York that mirrors life in the 20th century.

On Tuesday, Sept 9, the subject is fashion. Author and style expert George Brescia will discuss his guide to transforming your life by revamping your wardrobe and revising how you see yourself, "Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life: Because You Can't Go Naked" (Gallery Books, $21.99). Brescia has worked with top fashion designers and beauty experts, is a magazine columnist and has appeared often on TV and radio.

Also speaking will be style and pop culture journalist Maureen Callahan, whose new book is "Champagne Supernovas: Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, and the 90s Renegades Who Remade Fashion" (Touchstone, $26). Callahan has been an editor and writer at the New York Post and has also written for Spin, New York magazine, Vanity Fair and Sassy.

On Thursday, Sept. 11, journalist and essayist Daphne Merkin will discuss her new collection, "The Fame Lunches: On Wounded Icons, Money, Sex, the Brontës, and the Importance of Handbags (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27). Known for her profiles of famous writers, actors, sports legends and more, Merkin is a former staff writer for The New Yorker and a regular contributor to ELLE, as well as to The New York Times, Bookforum, Departures, Travel + Leisure, W, Vogue, and more.